PI Furniss

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Wyoming. Prior to this appointment I was a post-doctoral fellow with the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station (2020-2023). 

My research focuses on forest demography, tree mortality, and disturbance ecology of western forests at scales ranging from individual trees to entire landscapes. I lead the Fire and Landscape Ecology lab, where we use longitudinal forest demography plots, remote sensing, and process-based simulation models to understand how disturbance processes, climate, management, and ecological feedbacks collectively influence the structure, functioning, and resilience of forest ecosystems. I am particularly interested in the reciprocal nature of forests and disturbance processes, such as fire, and how their interactions contribute to the emergent properties of large landscapes such as resilience, self-regulation, and stability. I am also a member of the CoLaborative for Intersectoral Modeling of Earth Systems (CLIMES) lab, an interdisciplinary research team spanning several Colleges across UWyo working on integrated human-earth systems modeling. 

My research addresses both basic and applied questions in forest, fire, and landscape ecology, and I am devoted to producing research that informs science-based adaptive management and policy on public lands.